January 2012’s Solicitations

Marvel has just released details of what’s coming in January 2012… and it looks like Amazon.co.uk was right with their prediction of Mark Millar’s run on Ultimate Comics Avengers. It seems that December will be a quiet time for Omnibus fans, but the New Year will continue the trend of two releases a month. Here are the solicitations for Ultimate Comics Avengers and – get ready to be excited – The Amazing Spider-man Volume Two…!

ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS BY MARK MILLAR OMNIBUS

Cover art by Leinil Francis Yu.

Written by MARK MILLAR

Penciled by CARLOS PACHECO, LEINIL FRANCIS YU, STEVE DILLON & STEPHEN SEGOVIA

COVER BY LEINIL FRANCIS YU

All of superstar Mark Millar’s ULTIMATE AVENGERS sagas, collected in one volume!

• Captain America goes rogue to learn the truth about the Red Skull, and S.H.I.E.L.D. commissions a new team to bring him in!

• A 7-foot-tall biker with a flaming skull has been brutally murdering the rich and powerful, and the White House orders the Avengers to take down the Ghost Rider!

• The various vampire clans have united under a charismatic new leader encased in a salvaged Iron Man suit. Can Blade and the Avengers work together to stem the blood-red tide?

Collecting Ultimate Avengers #01-06; Ultimate Avengers 2 #01-06; Ultimate Avengers 3 #01-06; and Ultimate Comics Avengers vs. New Ultimates #01-06.

608 PGS./Parental Advisory …$75.00

ISBN: 978-0-7851-6132-5

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN OMNIBUS VOL. 2

Cover art by John Romita.

Written by STAN LEE

Penciled by JOHN ROMITA with DON HECK, LARRY LIEBER, JIM MOONEY & MARIE SEVERIN

Covers by HUMBERTO RAMOS & JOHN ROMITA

The Stan Lee/John Romita era starts here! Lee and Romita transformed the web-slinger into Marvel’s top title with stories that raised your spirits, tore at your heartstrings and kept you on the edge of your seat. From the revelation of the Green Goblin’s secret identity to the unforgettable entrance of Mary Jane Watson, these classics define Spidey to this day — with star-studded debuts including the Kingpin, the Rhino and Captain Stacy; Spidey’s disastrous first tryout with the Avengers; the iconic “Spider-Man No More!” issue; the true story of Peter Parker’s parents; and an epic battle against the Green Goblin!

Cover art by Humberto Ramos.

Collecting Amazing Spider-man#39-67 and Annual #03-05; Spectacular Spider–man Magazine #01-02; and material from Not Brand Echh #02, 06 and 11.

968 PGS./Rated T …$99.99

ISBN: 978-0-7851-5857-8 (Ramos cover) and ISBN: 978-0-7851-6014-4 (Romita cover).

The first ASM omnibus was released in 2007, and collected the entire Steve Ditko run, so it’s about time we had a follow-up, featuring the brilliant art of John Romita.

Amazing Spider-man #67

Obviously, with this omnibus finishing on ASM #67, there’s plenty of Lee and Romita’s legendary run remaining, so maybe we’ll see even more of the web-head in 2012. Who else is hoping for a follow-up to Uncanny X-Men Volume One or other classic omnibuses?

January’s going to be a great month – especially for those with excess money from Christmas!

“What Would Spidey Do?”: 40% off Spider-man!

If you’re a fan of Spider-man – and who isn’t?! – get over to Forbiddenplanet.co.uk for a massive 40% saving off March’s Untold Tales of Spider-man omnibus. With an RRP of £75, by clicking on the link below you can pre-order it for £45:

http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_music_info&products_id=66705

Cover B By Pat Olliffe

Get there now though – the offer ends on Wednesday 12^th October 2011! It only applies to Cover B… but it’s by the excellent Pat Olliffe, so if you have a problem with that, there’s probably something wrong with you. Olliffe also provides Cover A; so it’s win-win!

The 800-page omnibus collects Amazing Fantasy #16-18 (from 1995), Untold Tales Of Spider-Man #1-25, #-1, Annual 1996-1997 and Strange Encounter, plus material from Amazing Spider-Man Annual #37, and is written by Kurt Busiek, G.L. Lawrence, Tom DeFalco, Roger Stern and Fred Hembeck. There’s a plethora of fantastic artists too, including: Pat Olliffe, Paul Lee, Greg Loundon, Ron Frenz, Bob McLeod, Mike Allred, Tom Lyle, and John Romita.

Cover A... also by Pat Olliffe!

It’s expected around 14^th March, and features some of the supposedly-‘lost’ stories of Peter Parker as the wall crawling menace.

If you wanna see what’s included in this omnibus, take a look here:

http://spiderfan.org/comics/title/spiderman_untold_tales.html

Really does look awesome, huh?

The seriously cool cover to Untold Tales of Spider-man #15

Forbiddenplanet.co.uk also have Cover A for £48.70, while Amazon.co.uk has Cover B for this price too. Forbiddenplanet.com has the highest price for both covers at £51.74. WHSmiths.co.uk has it on pre-order for £49.50.

In other news…

 

Amazon.co.uk has revealed a really big teaser of things to come: they’ve got an omnibus pre-order for April 2012… Ultimate Comics Avengers By Mark Millar. Of course, the range has previous with the Ultimates omnibus, which is now long out-of-print. Here’s the blurb, straight off Amazon:

“All of superstar Mark Millar’s Ultimate Avengers sagas, collected in one oversized volume! In a bid to learn the truth about the devious Red Skull, Captain America goes rogue and S.H.I.E.L.D. commissions a new group of Avengers to bring him in. But can Nick Fury, Hawkeye, War Machine, Red Wasp, the new Black Widow and Nerd Hulk hope to keep Cap from his mission? Then: a 7-foot-tall biker with a flaming skull has been brutally murdering rich and powerful men across America, and the White House orders the Avengers to take down the Ghost Rider by any means necessary.”

Apparently a 608-page HC, the book has an RRP of £55.99, but they have it for £47.59. If they’re right, I’m looking forward to this one; what do you think, everyone?

“The Old Order Changeth!”: 40% off the Avengers!

“And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earth’s mightiest heroes and heroines found themselves united against a common threat. On that day, the Avengers were born—to fight the foes no single super hero could withstand! Through the years, their roster has prospered, changing many times, but their glory has never been denied! Heed the call, then—for now, the Avengers Assemble!”

Avengers #16

I haven’t been this excited about an omnibus in a while.

February 2012 sees the release of The Avengers omnibus, collecting Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Don Heck’s Avengers #1- 30, which introduces several characters including Kang the Conqueror, Wonder Man and, of course, the re-introduction of Captain America! (It’s odd, however, that the omnibus finishes at #30; Lee went on to write and edit until issue 35.) The HC will be the equivalent of buying the first three volumes of the Marvel Masterworks: Avengers editions.

Art by Jack "The King" Kirby!

The 728-page book has an RRP of £75, but anyone after the Jack Kirby DM – that’s Direct Market – cover (a re-coloured version of Avengers #01) should go to forbiddenplanet.co.uk for a 40% saving:

http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_music_info&products_id=66206

The offer stands until 21^st September; as anyone with a calendar in their peripheral will know… that’s tomorrow, so get over there straight away!

The DM Kirby cover.

If you’ve missed it, don’t panic; amazon.co.uk has a pre-order price of £45.54:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Avengers-Omnibus-1-Jack-Kirby/dp/0785158464/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316517898&sr=8-1

Bookdepository.co.uk currently has it for £47.46, while forbiddenplanet.com has a price of £51.74.

Avengers #20

John Romita Jr. (my favourite artist by a mile) provides a variant cover, which promises to be just stunning. Forbiddenplanet.co.uk has this available for £50.25, which I expect will be the price of the Kirby cover after tomorrow.

The JRJR variant cover

Despite Amazon predicting 29^th, the omnibus is expected around 15^th February, plenty of time before the release of the The Avengers Movie. There are obviously a few omnibuses out there for Kirby fans, including his runs on Captain
America, Fantastic Four, Devil Dinosaur and The Eternals.

Original Eternals advert

The first Avengers comic I read was the milestone #16, which heralded a new line-up for Earth’s Mightiest, and since then, I’ve loved them, just like every Marvel fan. While the original team – debuting in September 1963 – comprised of Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Ant man and the Wasp (with Cap joining the team in #4), issue 16 saw the roster change, with Captain America headlining a team of Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver.

The final panel of Avengers #01.

“Welcome back, Carter”: 40% off the Warlord of Mars!

February’s John Carter, Warlord of Mars Omnibus release is an unexpected one, though there is a new film in the mix, but I’m sure will be welcomed by many. The science-fiction series ran from 1977 to 1979, and won the 1978 Eagle Award for ‘Favourite New Title.’

Cover art by Gil Kane

The omnibus collects John Carter, Warlord Of Mars #1- 28 and Annual #1 -3, written by fan-favourites Marv Wolfman, Chris Claremont, Peter B. Gillis, Bill Mantlo and Alan Weiss, and pencilled by Gil Kane – who provides the cover to the HC – Dave Cockrum, Carmine Infantino, Ernie Colon, Frank Miller, Mike Vosburg, Walter Simonson, Ross Andru, Larry Hama, Sal Buscema, Ernie Chan and Alan Weiss. English artist, Alan Davis, best known for his work on Fantastic Four, provides a variant cover.

Cover art by Alan Davis

The 624-page omnibus will have an RRP of £75, but you can pre-order it from forbiddenplanet.co.uk for £45 – a saving of 40% – if you pre-order it by tomorrow, 14^th September – so what are you waiting for?!

http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_music_info&products_id=66090

If you’re reading this on 15^th September though… don’t panic! Amazon.co.uk has it available for £45.54:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Carter-Warlord-Mars-Omnibus/dp/0785159908/ref=cm_lmf_tit_9_rsrsrs1

Thanks to Matschi for commenting on my previous X-Men post, recommending bookdepository.co.uk, which has the John Carter omnibus for £45.54 too.

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/John-Carter-Warlord-Mars-Omnibus/9780785159902

Alternatively, the Alan Davis cover is available from forbiddenplanet.co.uk for £50.25, which is what the Gil Kane one will probably rise to after tomorrow. Forbiddenplanet.com has it on pre-order for £51.74.

Burrough's original 'A Princess of Mars' book

The series takes place during the novel, A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, which is being turned into a comic books series by Roger Langridge (Thor: The Mighty Avenger; Doctor Who Magazine) and Skottie Young (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; New Warriors: Reality Check) this month.

“With our new partnership with Marvel Entertainment, we believe we have found the best creative force to revive the thrills and adventures in the 21st Century of the legendary John Carter of Mars. We are looking forward to introducing this original interplanetary adventurer to a new generation of fans and await the first issue with great anticipation,” said James Sullos, President of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.

Skottie Young's cover to 'John Carter: Princess of Mars' #01.

For more on this, take a look at the Marvel website here: http://marvel.com/news/story/16055/john_carter_a_princess_of_mars_coming_in_september

Avengers details revealed

Marvel has revealed the preliminary covers to the upcoming Avengers omnibus, due for publication in February 2012. The normal cover is a recoloured version of Jack “The King” Kirby’s Avengers #01…

Art by Jack Kirby.

The variant edition will feature a cover by John Romita Jr. in homage to Kirby’s.

Art by John Romita Jr.

JRJR is my favourite artist, so I’m especially looking forward to this release, which is set to collect Avengers #01-30, by the legends that are Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Don Heck. The HC will be 728 pages, with an RRP of £75.

The Avengers omnibus is scheduled for release just before the movie of the same name… which is bound to be a massive hit, right?

Avengers Assemble!

“Too Many Mutants!”: 40% Off The X-Men!

 

Recoloured art by Jim Lee

Chris Claremont and Jim Lee’s exceptional collaboration on Marvel’s #1 mutant team continues in January 2012’s omnibus, which sets the X-Men up against Skrulls, The Shadow King and – of course – Magneto. The X-Men By Claremont and Lee Omnibus Volume Two also sees X-Factor take on Apocalypse, Wolverine versus Omega Red, the return of Mojo, the loss of Cyclop’s son, and time-travelling chaos with Bishop.

Omnibus cover art by Jim Lee

The pair’s award-winning run brought the X-Men into the 1990s with a bang. With a massive 880 pages, collecting Uncanny X-Men#273- 280, X-Factor #63- 70, Ghost Rider #26- 27, and X-Men #1- 9 – plus material from #10 and 11 –  this release will be a must for fans of mutantkind.

Uncanny X-Men #280

If you’re not a member of Friends Of Humanity, you’ll want to get over to forbiddenplanet.co.uk before Wednesday 10^th August to save 40% off the RRP of £95, bringing the cost down to £57! They list the expected delivery date as 4^th January, so perhaps something to spend that money you get for Christmas on…

While the Omnibus is available with two different covers  – both by Jim Lee –  only the one based on Uncanny X-Men #275 is on offer for £57 from fp.co.uk. It’s a great design, but anyone searching for the other, more Wolverine-centric one can get it from fp.co.uk for £63.65, which is also the same price as the previous Claremont/Lee X-Men omnibus. Following the current promotion, the Volume Two omnibus will probably go for this price as well.

The Recoloured X-Men!

Amazon.co.uk, meanwhile, have both omnibuses for the pre-order price of £71.25 each (which is kinda rubbish, really!), and forbiddenplanet.com have Volumes One and Two – all covers  – for £64.85 each.

Other X-Omnibuses include The X-Men Volume One and Two, which collects the earliest tales of the team, the long-OOP New X-Men with stories by Grant Morrison, and the formation of the second team – including Wolverine, Storm and Nightcrawler – in Uncanny X-Men By Claremont and Cockrum. Yep, the X-Men have a history of going out-of-print…

Aaron/Garney on Wolverine!

Some pretty big news has come out of the San Diego Comic Con over these past couple of days, including the reformation of the Defenders, the rebirth of Cable, and the possible return of the Scarlet Spider.

Watch out San Francisco!

And, beginning in October, artist Ron Garney returns to Wolverine to once again work with Jason Aaron in a three-part tale dealing with the aftermath of Schism. The pair first collaborated on the adamantium-peppered pint-sized mutant on the storyline, Get Mystique, before relaunching the title as Wolverine: Weapon X. Their popular partnership will be collected in October’s Wolverine By Jason Aaron omnibus, which incorporates Wolverine (2003) #56 and #62-65; Wolverine: Manifest Destiny #1-4; Wolverine: Weapon X #1-16; Dark Reign: The List Wolverine; and material from Wolverine (2003) #73-74, Dark X-Men: The Beginning #3 and Wolverine (1988) #175.

Aaron will also be working with Marc Silvestri on October’s relaunched The Incredible Hulk, which looks just amazing.

Marc Silvestri is back... and so is Bruce Banner!

Jason Aaron and Ron Garney’s new storyline will begin in Wolverine #17.

Price list – June round-up

As you probably know by now, the new price lists are up, with a few changes and surprises. Here’s the round-up of the released omnibuses; a pre-order price list round-up will follow soon.

Art by Steve Ditko.

Since the last list, a lot of omnibuses have sold out, including most of the older ones, like Fantastic Four Volume One and Amazing Spider-man Volume One. Obviously, these may be found in comic or book shops, or through auction sites like eBay. In fact, those particular two seem to crop up quite frequently on eBay (UK), though at the moment, only one FFV1 can be found at £82.25 plus postage and packaging. And no one seems to have ASMV1! But wait a bit, and perhaps they’ll be some more for sale soon.

Amidst a sea of ‘sold-outs,’ it’s a nice surprise to see Amazon.co.uk getting more stock in of Captain America By Ed Brubaker Volume One, at very reasonable prices (hovering between £38-42). None of these can be found on eBay or on either of the Forbiddenplanet sites. The follow-up, The Death of Captain America, can also be found on Amazon.co.uk for the great price of £30.77. For the third one, Captain America Lives!, it’s best to go to Forbiddenplanet.co.uk, who has it for £32.82.

I am Iron Man!

Forbiddenplanet.co.uk seems to have some variant editions of Invincible Iron Man Volume One at £48.75. It looks to be the movie variant edition, with the Mk1 armour (ie. the bulky one used to escape from The Ten Rings), which is a fantastic cover, albeit lacking a Kirby/Heck quality which some may seek. These older omnibuses are rare, especially variant editions, so it might be worth getting the omnibus at a good price.

Any fans of Daredevil will want to go straight to eBay, however. Most of the modern runs (Bendis/Maleev; Brubaker/Lark) are available at pretty good prices. At the moment, the most recent (Daredevil By Brubaker and Lark Volume Two) can found with a Buy-It-Now price of £35.50. You might have a job finding either of the Frank Miller omnibuses at reasonable prices, though. I’m still in search of Volume One myself (without paying massive amounts); 2ToneComics have one available on eBay… for £250!

Art by Jack Kirby.

A few omnibuses have sold out quite suddenly; Elektra, for example, has vanished completely from the “big three.” Amazon.co.uk and Forbiddenplanet.com have also sold out of Wolverine, The X-Men Volume One and Secret Wars 2, but Forbiddenplanet.co.uk has all three for £50.25 each. They also have Captain Britain by Alan Moore and Alan Davis at the same price; any fans of Avalon will want to grab one of these rare editions.

It’s odd that they haven’t got The Astonishing X-Men omnibus at all, but if you’re interested in Whedon and Cassaday’s tale of Danger, the Hellfire Club and the Breakworld, go to Amazon.co.uk, who have it for £39.24.

Finally, the latest omnibus, Captain America Volume One, with art by Jack Kirby, can be found at the brilliant price of £31.50 from Amazon.co.uk.

Art by Jack Kirby and Ron Garney... What a pairing!

You might also want to take into consideration Amazon.co.uk’s free postage and packaging when you spend more than £15 offer.

Remember to leave a comment with any bargains you’ve snapped up or if you’re selling any omnibuses on eBay!

“Are you Ready?”: 40% Off X-Statix!

The omnibus of Peter Milligan and Mike Allred’s X-Statix is sure to be popular. The satirical series focussing on a group of mutants geared towards media success began as the controversial new X-Force, before a relaunch which lasted 26 issues, with numerous spin-offs.

Cover by Mike Allred

The massive 1200-page omnibus collects X-Force (1991) #116-129; Brotherhood #9; X-Statix #1-26; Wolverine/Doop #1-2; X-Statix Presents Dead Girl #1-5; and material from X-Men Unlimited (1993) #41, I [Heart] Marvel: My Mutant Heart and Nation X #4. Written by Peter Milligan, and Nick Derington, and pencilled by Mike Allred, Sean Phillips, Duncan Fegredo, Nick Dragotta, Darwyn Cooke, Paul Pope, Nick Derington, Philip Bond, and Marcos Martin, the hardcover is set for release in November.

The series was, generally, very well-received, but with an RRP of £95, will you be buying the omnibus? But don’t panic; you don’t have to shed out almost £100…

Until Wednesday 15^th June 2011, Forbiddenplanet.co.uk is offering the book at a brilliant £57.00, a saving of 40%! It’s highly recommended, so get over there fast.

But what if you’re reading this on the 16^th June? Or even later? Once more, steady those nerves…

Doop by Mike Allred

Amazon.co.uk are currently selling the omnibus for just £57.16 (though they also state the RRP as £77.20, so let’s hope they don’t cancel pre-orders then hike the price up). Forbiddenplanet.com are offering the book at a still-very-reasonable £64.85.

We can draw parallels between this omnibus and Walter Simonson’s Thor, which is currently priced at £63.65 at Forbiddenplanet.co.uk, so it’s likely that X-Statix will rise to somewhere around that after the promotion ends.

Let me know your thoughts on the series, and if you’ll be getting the omnibus.

Price List Changes

The new price lists are up.

Since the last one, a lot has changed. Many omnibuses have sold out; new stocks of older editions have seemingly been found; the pre-order war has raged; and the range has expanded dramatically. So it seems the perfect time for a change.

If you compare the current price list to the last one, you’ll see a massive difference. Most notably, the graph of prices has changed into what I hope is more informative and pleasing to the eye. And more of a list. Obviously, the price comparisons are still there, but alongside these, I’ve also added the issues each omnibus contains, which will hopefully lead you to a better decision when buying.

Another main change to the list is that there are now two: one for normal omnibuses, and another for pre-orders. This should make it easier to navigate and find exactly what you want. The pre-order price list can be found alongside the normal one near the top of the page, while a round-up of these pre-orders can be found as a separate post (to be added soon).

The final big change regards forbiddenplanet.com, which continues to promise delivery of most omnibuses within 21 days… and fails miserably. So I’ve treated those as OOP (out-of-print); if you’re not going to get them anyway, what’s the point of their deals?! Even worse, they don’t even let you know they’re unavailable. Very annoying. Obviously, I’ve included prices for omnibuses without that stupid ’21 days’ “promise.”

(This is all based on my own experiences, so let me know if you’ve ordered anything from them and been either unsuccessful or very happy with the end result…!)

On top of all this… a minor change, but just as important. Instead of using the graph, the more list-like approach has allowed more space to expand on the names of omnibuses, so there’s, hopefully, less chance of ambiguity.

Oh, and this new format has been easier to update than the last…

Let me know what you think!

Come back soon for the updated price list round-ups.